Business processes and information systems in the Ghana cocoa supply chain: Asurvey studyNJAS Wageningen Journal of Life SciencesAhoa, Emmanuel; Kassahun, Ayalew; Tekinerdogan, Bedirhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2020.100323

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Business processes and information systems in the Ghana cocoa supplychain: A survey studyEmmanuel Ahoaa,*, Ayalew Kassahunb, Bedir Tekinerdoganb

a MPrise, Newtonstraat 2, 3902 HP Veenendaal, Netherlandsb Information Technology Group, Wageningen University and Research, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, Netherlands

A R T I C L E I N F O

Keywords:Business process modellingInformation technologyObstacles to ITBusiness-IT alignment

A B S T R A C T

The Ghana cocoa industry contributes substantially to the total world cocoa production and provides livelihoodsto more than a quarter of the population. Although cocoa holds a leading position in the Ghanaian economy, noexplicit effort has been made in modelling and documenting the business processes of the cocoa supply chain andthe role that IT plays in supporting those processes. Hence, it is difficult to identify the current obstacles inadopting IT in the Ghana cocoa sector, and likewise, enhance the alignment of the business processes along thesupply chain and the underlying IT systems. To address this issue, this article presents the results of a surveystudy to the current business processes of the cocoa supply chain and the underlying IT systems in Ghana. Thesurvey study has been conducted with 56 individuals from the three key sets of actors from the sector, which arecocoa farmers, cocoa traders and the Ghana cocoa board. Based on the results of the survey study, we provideformal business process models of these actors and describe the role IT currently plays in supporting the businessprocesses. We report on the lessons learned together with the obstacles and thus aim to pave the way for furtherdevelopment and enhancement of the business processes as well as the adopted IT.

1. Introduction

Cocoa contributes substantially to the world commodity market andits global relevance cannot be disputed. Cocoa is the main raw materialfor the global chocolate sector which was worth $150bn in 2014(Financial Times, 2015). Globally, 40–50 million people depend on thecocoa supply chain for their livelihoods (Beg et al., 2017). As the secondlargest producer and exporter of cocoa beans in the world, Ghana’scocoa industry accounts for 20 % of the global cocoa production(Monastyrnaya et al., 2016). Currently, the sector accounts for 30 % ofthe total export earnings in the country (Monastyrnaya et al., 2016). Inaddition, the Ghana Cocoa Supply Chain (GCSC) provides income forsix million people, representing 30 % of the population in Ghana(Anthonio and Aikins, 2009; Gockowski et al., 2011; USDA, 2012).

The GCSC contains diverse stakehodlers who have different rolesand differ in their needs, backgrounds, and the conditions under whichthey operate. Farmers are responsible for growing and harvesting ofcocoa beans. Cocoa traders, formally called the Licensed BuyingCompanies (LBCs), oversee the domestic purchasing and transporting ofbagged cocoa beans. The civil societies, on the other hand, contribute toadvocating for transformative projects in the GCSC. The governmentcontrols and supervises, through its Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD),

the activities of the stakeholders in the GCSC (Antwi Opoku et al.,2015).

Although cocoa holds a leading position in the Ghanaian economy,no explicit effort has been made in modelling and documenting thebusiness processes of the cocoa supply chain. Also, little is known aboutthe adoption of IT (Information Technology) systems in the Ghanacocoa sector. Hence, it is difficult to identify the current obstacles inadopting IT, and likewise enhance the alignment of the business pro-cesses along the Ghana cocoa supply chain.

In addition, lack of access to information has been a concern tosome of the actors of the GCSC. Information is a source of power, andthus inequality and exclusion affect the actors negatively (Gereffi et al.,2005; Laven, 2010). Conversely, sharing of information across thesupply chain helps to facilitate coordination among supply chain actorsand enhance efficiency (Lee et al., 1998; Gereffi et al., 2005). In GCSC,actors downstream the supply chain, particularly LBCs, appear to ownmost of the information. The farmers, from whom nearly all the in-formation is collected, their cooperatives and the sector regulator CO-COBOD have less and sometimes no access to the information. There-fore, the GCSC is characterized by the unfair distribution of value andinefficient coordination of operations.

The main objective of this study is to formally model the business

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2020.100323Received 29 March 2019; Received in revised form 31 January 2020; Accepted 4 February 2020

⁎ Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: eahoa@mprise.nl (E. Ahoa), ayalew.kassahun@wur.nl (A. Kassahun), bedir.tekinerdogan@wur.nl (B. Tekinerdogan).

NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 92 (2020) 100323

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processes and describe the underlying IT systems in the GCSC so thatthe state-of-the-art becomes well known and well understood. Toachieve this objective, four Research Questions (RQ) have been for-mulated, which are:

RQ1: Who are the key actors of the GCSC and how they relate toeach other?

RQ2: What are the current business processes of the actors?RQ3: What are the underlying IT systems used by the actors? and,RQ4: How do the IT systems support the business processes?To answer these questions, we have carried out a systematic ap-

proach using both survey and design science research. We report on theoutcome of the study and present the lessons learned. The remainder ofthis paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we provide backgroundinformation relating to business processes and IT. In section 3 we pre-sent the research methodology that we have adopted. Section 4 describethe results and discussions, which include the formal business processmodels and the description of the supporting IT systems. In section 5 weprovide concluding remarks.

2. Background

2.1. Ghana cocoa supply chain

The GCSC is like any other production and marketing industry; it ischaracterized by a network of actors that join forces to complete theactivities that are needed to deliver quality cocoa beans for export. Theactors contribute to the production, transportation and marketing ofcocoa. Awuah-Gyawu et al. (2015) identified three major actors inGCSC: (1) cocoa farmers (2) LBCs and (3) COCOBOD. There are about800,000 cocoa producing households in Ghana (Ghana StatisticalService, 2014). The LBCs have District Managers (DMs) who live in thecocoa growing districts. These DMs also have marketing clerks formallycalled the Purchasing Clerks (PCs). PCs receive funds from their re-spective LBCs through their DMs and purchase cocoa beans fromfarmers (Anthonio and Aikins, 2009; Awuah-Gyawu et al., 2015). In2013/14 cocoa season, the number of LBCs were 41, but only 32 ac-tively purchased cocoa in that season (Ghana COCOBOD, 2014). CO-COBOD is a government institution that controls and supervises theproduction and marketing of cocoa and performs its responsibilitieswith the support from its five key subsidiaries (Essegbey and Ofori-Gyamfi, 2012). The subsidiaries include; Cocoa Marketing Company(CMC), Quality Control Company Limited (QCCL), Cocoa Research In-stitute of Ghana (CRIG), Cocoa Health Extension Division (CHED) andSeed Production Division (SPD).

2.2. Business processes

In the context of agri-food supply chains, business processes are aset of interrelated business activities involving the production, dis-tribution and transaction of goods and services across a supply chain.The processes involve autonomous organizations, such as producers,traders, distributors and retailers (Verdouw et al., 2010). From an or-ganization perspective, business processes are directly linked to specificbusiness outcomes (Davenport and Short, 1998; Aguilar- Saven, 2004).In a supply chain, a business process in one organization is linked di-rectly with business processes in other organizations: for example, thebusiness processes of a farmer in the GCSC are typically linked to thebusiness processes of an LBC (which is an entirely different organiza-tion) since a farmer typically sells his produce to an LBC.

In a more technical sense, Dumas et al. (2013) describe businessprocess as a chain of activities, tasks, events and decisions. Activitiesrepresent either a single unit of work, which is a task, or interconnectedset of tasks. Events denote things that happen without a duration, suchas the arrival of a message or a launch of a process. Decisions, on theother hand, are the choices made at a particular point in the processflow and are presented by gateways. A typical example of a business

process in GCSC is the purchase of cocoa beans by PCs. The arrival ofthe cocoa season is an event, which leads to a number of tasks to beperformed and decisions to be made by PCs. In addition, a businessprocess may involve a number of actors in charge of executing thevarious activities and making decisions (Dumas et al., 2013). Theseactors can be people, software systems, business units or entire orga-nizations.

In the business process management discipline, business processesare normally depicted as diagrams using visual representation methods.This process of presentation is an essential part of business processmodelling (Dumas et al., 2013; Kassahun, 2017). Business processmodelling is an essential part of business process management, whichdeals with integrating and redesigning of the business processes of asupply chain (Verdouw et al., 2010).

There are many modelling notations and techniques for presentingbusiness processes. The frequently used techniques include flowchartdiagrams, dataflow diagrams, Business Process Modelling Notation(BPMN), Event- driven Process Chain (EPC) and UML (UnifiedModelling Language) activity diagrams. The widely used technique ofpresenting business processes is BPMN (OMG, 2011). BPMN enablesdepicting graphically the business activities, the events that triggeredthe activities, the flow of information and the decision logic. BPMNprovides notations that are designed to be easily comprehensible to awide-range of stakeholders, including business owners, process analystsand IT engineers (Silver and Richard, 2009).

2.3. Information systems

Information systems are used for managing and supporting businessprocesses and are the backbone of every organization. In this paper, weadopt the conceptualization of information systems by Piccoli (2014).According to Piccoli, information systems are formal, socio-technical,organizational systems designed to collect, process, store and distributeinformation. An information system has four components that can begrouped into technical and social sub-systems. The technical sub-systemcomprises of technology and process; the social sub-system is composedof structure and people. The technology component refers to bothsoftware and hardware elements. The process component refers tobusiness processes. The structure and people, on the other hand, refersto the organizational setup and the individuals who are part of theinformation system.

Information systems support the execution of business processes andcan be manual (paper-based and human-intensive) or computerized(automated and IT-intensive), but mostly they are the combination ofthe two. Manual systems rely heavily on the social sub-system. Manualsystems generally involve paper forms that are processed by employeeswho belong to specific organizational units. Computerized systems useIT systems that include software applications and computer hardwareand execute business processes, to a large extent, autonomously.

The technology component in this paper refers to the IT systemsused by the actors in the GCSC. This includes IT systems used formarketing, accounting, receiving, human resources management andprocurement systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems,which include procurement, sales and marketing, human resource, andaccounting are the most important IT system for supply chain man-agement (Tekinerdogan, 2014). The functional structure and the actorsin the GCSC represent the structure and people of Piccoli’s social sub-system.

3. Research design

Two major research protocols are used to address the researchquestions in this study. The first is a survey study based on semi-structured interviews, which is used to address all four research ques-tions. The second is design-based research, which is used to addressRQ2 using formal business process models.

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3.1. Interview-based survey study

Survey study allows researchers to collect information that de-scribes or explains the behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge of a popu-lation from which the target group was sampled (Pfleeger andKitchenham, 2001; Glasow, 2005).

The survey research activities employed in the study include thedesign of the survey study, preparation of data collection instrument,selection of actors, validation and administration of the questionnaires,and analysis of the interview responses. The details about these stepshave been highlighted in the section that follows.

3.1.1. Survey study designThe survey study design includes the specification of the goal of the

study, the research questions, data requirements, study population, thenature of the data collection and the methods of the data analysis. Thegoals and the research questions are outlined in the introduction sectionof this paper. Data requirements include the survey data and otherqualifying data from secondary data sources. The study populationconstitutes 56 individuals from different actor groups who have beeninterviewed in December 2016. The analysis constitutes encoding of theinterview results, quantitative analysis and formal modelling of busi-ness processes. Table 1 summarizes the design of the survey study usedin this study.

3.1.2. Data collection instrumentSemi-structured questionnaires were developed based on informa-

tion derived from literature about the roles and activities of the actorsof GCSC. Three separate questionnaires were prepared for the threemajor types of actors. The questionnaires constitute pre-defined set ofclosed and open-ended questions, including questions about the actor’sbackground, the current business processes and the information system(including the IT systems used) (see Appendix A). The questionnaireswere printed on paper and were used to record the responses of theinterviewee. The paper forms were given reference numbers for trace-ability purposes.

3.1.3. Actors selectionPurposive sampling technique was used as a procedure to select the

actors. The technique used denote that each of the supply chain actorsselected was based on their fundamental roles. For instance, atCOCOBOD, the officials interviewed have in depth knowledge of thebusiness processes and IT systems in the sector. Table 2 shows the 56individuals interviewed, representing three different types of actors inthe GCSC.

3.1.4. Validation and administration of the questionnairesThe semi-structured paper questionnaires were pretested on some

selected actors from the target population in the GCSC. The concerns ofthese selected respondents about the questionnaires were noted andaddressed in the final questionnaires used for the field work. The pretestwas used to avoid inconsistencies, and check the validity and reliabilityof the questionnaires. The researchers adopted the supervised ques-tionnaire administration technique based on face-to-face interviews as

described by Pfleeger and Kitchenham (2001). Using this technique,first, meetings were scheduled among the target population. Second,the goal of the research, its contributions and the time required for theinterviews were described to each of the interviewees. The researchersalso assured the correspondents that all the information given shall beused solely for this research and will be treated confidentially. Last, thedata were collected through field and office visits and face-to-face in-terviews. The responses were written on the paper forms of the ques-tionnaires. With the consent of the 56 individuals, photographs werealso taken to support the data collection.

3.1.5. Analysis of interview responsesThe survey responses recorded on paper were digitized onto

Microsoft Excel 2016. The responses were then synthesized into formalbusiness process models using the business process modelling tech-nique. The IT systems used by the actors were identified qualitativelyand directly from the survey response. These analyses are described indetail sections 3.2 and 3.3.

3.2. Modelling business processes

The business process models presented in this research constitutethe flow of activities and the interaction among the actors and thebusiness units (collaboration) in the GCSC. In modelling the businessprocesses the following steps were followed. First, the actors wereidentified directly from the Microsoft Excel file. In BPMN notations, theBPMN pool element represents the whole organization, whilst the BPMNlane element represents a business unit (a role) within the organizationwho is executing the activities within the lane. A lane is a sub-partitionof a pool. A samaller orgaisation, mainly farmers, the whole organiza-tion is considered as a single business unit, and thus represented as asingle lane; a large organization, such LBC and COCOBOD, the differ-ernt business units within the organization are represented by their owndintinct lanes. Second, the plain business activities as described by theactors were rephrased, made consistent, and represented as BPMNtasks. Likewise, the sequence of execution of activities and the BPMNgateways, representing and choices made by the actors, were identified.The tasks, gateways and flows together represent an actor’s BPMNprocess model. When a process model represents a number of actors(for instance, 20 cocoa farmers were sampled for the study), only thecommon features that are representative of the activities carried out bymost of the actors are included. Last, the interactions among actorswere represented using the BPMN message exchanges notation. Thedata associated with business activities were represented using theBPMN data object and data store notations.

3.3. Identifying IT systems

During the data collection process, the actors were made to indicatethe underlying IT systems and hardware technologies used to supporttheir business activities. Their responses were harmonized and digi-tized. The IT systems were then categorized by the business activitiesthey support.

Table 1Steps for the survey study design.

Survey study activity Descriptions

Goal See section 1Research questions See section 1Data requirements Primary and secondary source of dataStudied population 56 individuals from GCSCData collection Semi-structured interviews (open and closed questions)Data analysis Qualitative data analysis of actors and the modelling of

business processes

Table 2Summary of interviews.

Actor Number of respondents

Cocoa farmersLBC:Purchasing Clerks (PCs)District Managers (DMs)Port Manager (PMs)Operations Managers (OMs)COCOBOD officials

20209133

Total 56

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4. Results and discussion

We present in the following sub-sections the answers to each of thefour research questions, and discuss the relevance and implications ofthe results. Section 4.1 addresses RQ1 by describing how the actors inthe GCSC relate to each other. Section 4.2 addresses RQ2 by providingthe business process models of the three major actors. Section 4.3 ad-dresses RQ3 by identifying the IT systems adopted by the actors. Fi-nally, section 4.4 addresses RQ4 by describing the alignment of IT withthe business processes.

4.1. Cocoa supply chain actors and their relationships

The findings from our survey study affirmed the structure of GCSCas described in the background (see section 2.1) but also provided newinformation. We identified new roles among the key actors in the GCSCwhose influences are valuable to consider because the actors executekey business processes in the GCSC (see section 4.2 for the details of thebusiness processes). Within the LBCs, the survey revealed two addi-tional roles of importance: Operations Managers (OMs) and Port Man-agers (PMs), besides DMs and the PCs. The survey also reaveled thespecific roles of SPD and CHED divisions of COCOBOD in relation tococoa production. SPD is in charge of supplying inputs (e.g. seedlingsand fertilizers) to farmers and CHED manages the extension activities inthe cocoa industry. CMC is mandated with external and internal mar-keting of cocoa through its Warehousing and Port Operations (WPO)division. QCCL oversees the quality of cocoa beans while CRIG focuseson research and provides specific recommendations. These findingsshow that the mandates of Ghana COCOBOD are carried out by spe-cialized subsidiaries. The results further show that CMC has internalbusiness units called Shipping and WPO that support the execution of itsbusiness processes. The business processes of these two business unitsare provided in section 4.2.2. These insights are crucial for broadeningthe knowledge about the key stakeholders and the internal structure ofCOCOBD, and will help improve identifying effective areas of colla-boration in the cocoa industry. The identification of these key actorswill not only deepen the stakeholders’ understanding of the actors op-erating in the GCSC, but it also helps regulators and civil societies informulating the right policies and dissemination of information.

Our study confirms the prevailing knowledge on the roles of thediverse actors: cocoa farmers maintain cocoa fields, grow cocoa, harvestand sell dried cocoa beans to PCs; PCs purchase dried cocoa beans onbehalf of their respective LBCs, and sort, bag and evacuate the driedbagged cocoa beans to the DMs of their LBCs; DMs receive baggedcocoa beans from their PCs, warehouse and evacuate the cocoa beans tothe nearest inland port where the cocoa beans will be received by a PM;PMs document the bagged cocoa beans and handover to WPO who thenwarehouses the bagged cocoa beans, prepare them for shipping by theshipping department. These findings corroborate the observations byAwuah-Gyawu et al. (2015) and Monastymaya et al. (2016). The actorsand their interrelationships is depicted in conceptual model shown inFig. 1.

4.2. Business process models

Now that we have outlined the main actors and their inter-relationships we elaborate in this section the models of the businessprocesses of the actors. The business process models illustrate the flowsof activities as well as the flow of information within and among theactors.

4.2.1. Business processes of cocoa farmersFig. 2 shows the conceptual model of the business process per-

formed by cocoa farmers in GCSC. The directional arrows and thenumbers show the sequential flow of activities of the cocoa farmers.The business process illustrated in Fig. 2 has been translated into a

formal BPMN model in Fig. 3.The cocoa farming business process consists of five major activities:

pre-planting operations, cocoa seedlings procurement (depicted as twoseparate BPMN tasks: requesting and receiving cocoa seedlings),planting/farm maintenance, harvest, and post-harvest activities.

The pre-planting operations comprise of a number of activities.First, the site for planting of the cocoa seedlings is selected. Then thesite is cleared, an activity that may include the removal of large un-desirable trees and controlled burning of the trashes referred to as ‘landpreparation’. This is followed by lining and pegging at recommendedspacing. After that farmers plant low shading crops such as cassava,cocoyam, maize, yam with the prime objective of providing food untilthe cocoa starts bearing fruits and with an added function of providingshade to protect the young cocoa plants. All these activities have beencollapsed collectively and depicted as pre-planting operations in thebusiness process model.

Procurement of cocoa seedlings follows the pre-planting operations.Farmers go to SPD for cocoa seedlings. (Though all interviewed farmersobtained their seedlings from SPD, we observed that some farmers alsoraise their own seedlings.) The offices of the SPD are located close to thefarmers in the cocoa growing communities. We observed that farmersare asked to produce their national identification card and thierCOCOBOD passbook, and indicate the size of the land cleared beforereceiving the cocoa seedlings. These data are registered by the SPD.Though the provision of such data is required and relevant for identi-fication and as a control mechanism by SPD, farmers likely have no ideahow their information is stored, managed and used. There is also noknown data protection plan. COCOBOD has a role in addressing thisconcern and enhance proper information management, and overcomethe exclusion of farmers from access to infromation as stated by Gereffiet al. (2005) and Laven (2010).

The cocoa seedlings received from the SPD are planted. This activityleads to farm maintenance activities. The farm maintenance activitiesinclude weed management, mulching, management of the shade, ap-plication of fertilizer, diseases and pests control.

The cocoa is harvested when the pods turn deep yellow. The post-harvest activities start with picking the harvested cocoa pods from theground and heaping them in a central pod breaking point. The breakingof the pod follows this activity. After this activity, the cocoa beans arefermented, generally for 6 days, and sun-dried for 6–7 days dependingon weather condition. Afterwards, cocoa farmers go to the PCs forfetching empty jute sacks for bagging of the dried cocoa beans.

A farmer sells the dried bagged cocoa beans to a PC and receives acash payment. During the payment, the PC records relevant data in thecocoa farmer’s passbook as a means of record keeping. The recordeddata include passbook number, crop year, date of sale, cocoa beans soldin kilograms, the LBC’s license number, district name or code, societyname or code, and the PC’s name and signature. The information in thecocoa farmer’s passbook serves as transactional data for the cocoafarmer. The business process of the cocoa farmers comes to an endwhen the cocoa beans are sold to the PC.

The recording of data in farmers’ passbook implies that there is anexchange of transactional data between the PCs and the cocoa farmers.There may be additional datasets that are recorded by the PCs of whichthe farmers, once again, have no idea where those data are stored andused. This can be attributed to farmers’ lack of knowledge about thevalue of information in thier trade relations with LBCs and inadequateinformation technology to manage and protect information. To helpenhance the fair access to information, the LBCs, for whom the PCswork, should at least provide farmers with a summary of purchases atthe end of every cocoa season. With such an infromation, the farmerswill have a snapshot of their transactions, which in turn will help themto do self-performance assessment and benchmark with other farmers.The cocoa farmers could in addition be educated on how the data re-corded in their passbook can be used to inform their decisions.

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4.2.2. Business processes of LBCsThe business process of the LBCs is depicted using the four different

business processes of the four different roles within LBCs, which arePCs, DMs, PMs and OMs. The four business processes are excuted col-laboratively, and are first initiatied by the PCs and completed by theOMs.

4.2.2.1. Business process of PCs. The business process of PCs is depictedin Fig. 4. The activities of the PCs can be grouped into three: request offunds (shown as the first two tasks: request and receive funds), qualitychecks of cocoa beans (shown as the three subsequent tasks: checkcocoa bean quality, reject cocoa beans, and accept/weigh cocoa beans),and purchase cocoa beans (the remaining tasks). The business process isinitiated when PCs request funds from their DMs to purchase cocoa

beans, which indicates that the collaborative business processes of theLBCs are initiated by the PCs. The PCs request funds after submittingreturns on previous week purchases and receive the requested fundsonly when the previous week’s purchases reconcile with the moneyreceived; otherwise, they are denied funds. When the request is denied,the PC must revisit his or her accounts and review the returns beforeplacing another request for funds.

After receiving the requested funds from their DMs, the PCs use themoney to purchase cocoa beans from farmers. When a farmer brings hisor her cocoa for sale, PCs check the quality of the cocoa which includechecking if the beans are thoroughly dried (moisture content) and freefrom blemishes. The responses from the PCs interviewed revealed thatif the cocoa beans fail to pass the quality checks, the beans are rejectedfor reconditioning. The recondition process implies that the cocoa

Fig. 1. Conceptual model depicting the GCSC actors and their interactions.

Fig. 2. Conceptual model of the business process of cocoa farmers.

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beans are sorted and are sun dried again for some few days. The re-sponses also indicated that cocoa beans that pass the quality ex-amination are weighed.

The farmers are paid in cash after the weighing. The PC then recordthe details of the purchase as described in section 4.2.1. The PC’sgeneral ledger serves as a transaction database and is used in preparingthe weekly returns (shown in Fig. 4 as a data store labelled PC generalledger). The PC calls the responsible DM for evacuation of purchasedcocoa beans from the society storage area or village to the LBC districtwarehouse. The business process of the PCs comes to an end when thisevacuation is done.

The PCs record their transaction data on paper notebooks, whichcould lead to many errors and loss of data, particularly if the files arenot adequately secured. The lack of digital record indicates the lack ofinfromation sharing and infromation asymertry. Even if the PCs want toshare infromation, it is difficult for them to process the records, derivethe necessary summary and benchmark information, and share the in-fromation back to the farmers. To overcome this difficulty, LBCs coulddeploy a simple software application to manage and process their dataand train the PCs on how to use them. Such an application shouldprovide other actors access to relevant data that will help them in ex-cuting their business activities and support better decision making.

4.2.2.2. Business process of DMs. The DMs business process (shown inFig. 5) begins when the DM starts to receive dried cocoa beans fromPCs. The DMs hire labourers to offload the cocoa beans. The dried cocoabeans are offloaded and packed into the district warehouse, and theoffloaded quantities are recorded.

Once sizeable quantity of cocoa beans is recorded, the DM applies toQCCL (a subsidiary of COCOBOD) for grading and sealing. This activity

involves sending a document to QCCL, which has offices located in thedistricts of the cocoa growing areas. The DM receives evacuation cer-tificate if the cocoa beans pass the quality examination test conductedby QCCL officials. Cocoa beans that fail the quality checks are subject torecondition. After reconditioning the DM can re-apply for evacuationcertificate.

The DM calls the responsible OM for loading trucks for onwardevacuation to the port once adequate quantity has been recorded in thedistrict warehouse. The DM is required by COCOBOD to provide in-formation about their LBCs as well as the source of the cocoa beans tobe evacuated as a requirement for the granting of the evacuation cer-tificate. This important requirement enables traceability of cocoa backto PCs. Just like the PCs, the DMs request for funds for their suppliers(the PCs) after submitting returns sheet for the previous purchases. Forthis purpose, the DMs have a notebook or general ledger where all theirdaily purchases or transactions are recorded. The DM’s activities endafter the dried bagged cocoa beans have been evacuated to the port andreturns over the purchased cocoa beans has been submitted.

4.2.2.3. Business process of PMs. The business processes of the PM(shown in Fig. 6) is initiated by a trigger of a call from DM aboutdeparting trucks. The PM activities commence upon arrival of trucksfrom district depots and endorsed bush waybill from the truck driver isreceived. The PM then prepares port waybill and attaches the twowaybills for submission to COCOBOD CMC officials. The results fromthe survey revealed that after submission of the two waybills to CMCofficials, PM receives weighing bridge certificate from CMC officials.The PM also receives Cocoa Taken Over Receipts (CTORs), or summarysheet, from CMC officials. The PM has a general ledger or transactiondatabase where CTORs vital information, information on weighing

Fig. 3. Business process model of cocoa farming.

Fig. 4. Business process of purchasing dried cocoa beans.

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bridge certificate and daily transaction activities are recorded andstored. The PM activities end by sending copies of the CTORs tocorresponding OM, which initiates the business process of the OMs.

This result highlights the crucial role of the PMs within the LBCsinternal supply chain as well as the entire GCSC. The PMs serve as thefinal point of contact from which the cocoa beans are handed over tothe CMC on behalf of COCOBOD. The PM is also responsible for thedocumentation of the delivery of the cocoa beans to the CMC officials atthe port. The PMs have indepth knowledge about the operational ac-tivities of the LBCs as well as the port business activities of CMC, andwith their central role, they could play a pivotal role in any effort thataims at redesigning the business processes of the GCSC.

4.3. Business process of OMs

The receiving of the CTORs from the PM starts the business processof the OMs (shown in Fig. 7). The business process is initiated after theOM receives CTORs and returns from PMs and DMs respectively. Thereturns prepared by the OM is attached to the CTORs and is sent to theCMC accounts department for claims. The activity “send returns andCTORs to CMC accounts for claims” is done manually. After the OM hassubmitted the returns and CTORs to CMC accounts department forclaim processing, a decision is made whether or not the CTORs andreturns will be approved. If the returns and CTORs are approved, theLBC receives money from COCOBOD; if they are rejected the LBC mustreview the returns for re-submission. The activity “payment received

from COCOBOD” ends the business processes of the OM as well as thebusiness process of the LBCs.

4.3.1. Business processes of COCOBODThe two business processes of CMC are modelled into two lanes, as

shown in Fig. 8, representing the process flow of the two business units:WPO and the shipping department. There was no sufficient informationfor modelling the business processes of CHED, CRIG and SPD, which arethe other subsideries of COCOBOD.

4.3.1.1. Business process of WPO. The business processes of CMC aretriggered when the officials of WPO takes over the driend and baggedcocoa from PMs of the LBCs, triggering the business process of WPO.Our results indicate that the officials schedule the trucks for offloading.The scheduling and offloading are recorded in the same database(shown as data store labelled Cocoa information in Fig. 8). After thetrucks are offloaded, depot keepers of CMC prepare field reports, whichin turn is used as input data in preparing CTORs. The CMC officials sendthe CTORs to the CMC statistics department. The statistics departmentsends the CTORs to the PMs of the LBCs. These two activities are donemanually using paper froms and are therefore tagged as manualactitivites in the model. The business process of WPO comes to anend when the dried bagged cocoa beans are prepared for shipping andhanded over to the CMC shipping department. This triggers the businessprocess of the shipping department.

The manual and paper-based activities suggest that there is a lot of

Fig. 5. Business process model of warehousing and evaluating of dried cocoa beans.

Fig. 6. Business process model of receiving cocoa beans from district depots and processing receipts.

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manual handover in the CMC business process. For instance, the depotkeepers need to manually prepare field reports after the offloading ofthe cocoa beans. The manual handover of paper forms increases thewaiting time before the next activity can start. This clearly shows thatthe process flow can be enhanced by using IT systems for the schedulingof the offloading process and the preparation of the field reports. Withthe use of the right IT system, the schedules generated from the pro-gramming activity and the recodings of the offload activity could im-mediately have been used as inputs for generating the field reports.

4.3.1.2. Business process of the shipping department. The shippingdepartment takes over the bagged cocoa beans (warehoused stocks)from WPO where the cocoa is stored. The shipping department shipscocoa to local and international customers. In the case of internationalshipping, the survey results reveal that CMC shipping department mustseek advice from Bank of Ghana, Ghana Customs and Ghana Port andHarbor Authority (GPHA) before any shipping can take place.

The shipping department of CMC can only load containers whenvessels are available. When no vessel is available the shipping depart-ment must wait for incoming vessels. The business process of theshipping department ends when the department ships the cocoa pro-ducts to a destination abroad (see Fig. 8).

The results indicate that the shipping department liaises between

the local and international buyers. These demonstrate that besidesfarmers, LBCs and COCOBOD, there are other supporting stakeholderssuch as the Bank of Ghana, GPHA and international buyers, whichcontribute to the execution of the business processes of LBCs andCOCOBOD. The implication of this is that the views of these third-partystakeholders should also be incorporated when redesigning the businessprocesses or drafting new and improved policies that affect the businessprocesses.

The process descriptions highlight the dominance of paper-basedsystems across the board and the associated challenges already dis-cussed. They also suggest that the inadequate use of technology is notonly a drawback for LBCs, but also for COCOBOD, which is tasked toplay a crucial role of improving the GCSC. The disciptions of thebusiness processes indicate that the LBCs work in close coordinationwith COCOBOD, which suggests that their IT systems should also beintegrated and well-aligned. If the integration and alignment could beachived, that will bring substantial efficeincy in the execution of thebusiness processes of both the LBCs and COCOBOD.

4.4. Adoption of IT

This section presents the IT used by the actors in the GCSC to sup-port their business processes. According to Piccoli’s (2014) description

Fig. 7. Business model of receipts and returns submission.

Fig. 8. Business process model of warehousing and shipping.

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of information systems, the technical component refers to the softwareand hardware systems used. The manual activities used for informationprocessing belong partially to the social sub-system (the actors andtheir relationships), and partially to technical component (for instance,the paper forms).

4.4.1. IT systems of cocoa farmersOut of the 20 cocoa farmers sampled for the research, 16 (80 %)

own mobile. Only one cocoa farmer owns a tablet. Out of the 16farmers, half of them have access to internet in a form of mobile data ontheir phones. The survey results reveal that the use of IT systems bycocoa farmers is virtually non-existent. The faremrs’ passbook could bedigitized and the infromation made accessible to those farmers whohave internet access. Those farmers could be trained on how to use theirdigital passbook, and this would in turn encourage the rest of thefarmers to follow suit.

4.4.2. IT systems used by LBCsThe results show that 19 (95 %) of the PCs own and use mobile

phone and 16 of them having access to internet in the form of mobiledata. The use of paper-based forms by all PCs indicate that LBCs do nothave appropriate IT systems for their PCs. On the other hand, LBCs usemodern IT systems in their headquarters and port units, including: portinformation system, field information system, assets managementsystem, general ledger accounts system, Human Resource (HR) man-agement system, payroll processing system, and inventory managementsystem. These systems are used by the PMs and OMs. LBCs also havewebsites which provide services to public users.

Though the LBCs deploy the aforementioned IT systems, it is ob-vious that the systems are underutilized. From the business processes ofthe LBCs presented in section 4.2.2, it is evident that paper-based formsare the primary means of manging and sharing informaiton. The PCsand DMs, for instance, have no access to these systems. As indicated forthe case of the cocoa farmers, the PCs and DMs could also be trained onhow to utilize their mobile technologies—technologies they already usein their personal lives—for recording and sharing information, andreduce errors in the collection of data and improving data accessibility.

4.4.3. IT systems used by COCOBODCMC used the following IT systems: inventory management system,

accounting services system, LBC Management Information System(MIS), HR management system, marketing system, claim processingand procurement management services system. These systems are usedby CMC to support both external and internal marketing of dried cocoabeans of the GCSC. Besides, CMC has a website that gives access to itspublic services. With such a commanding role in the GCSC, one mayhold the view that IT systems will be widely used to support theirbusiness processes. As this study reveals, this is not the case. The sys-tems listed above were not being used fully which may be the result ofinadequate alignment between their business processes and the ITsystems deployed.

4.5. Alignment of IT with the business processes

This section describes how the current business processes of theactors in the GCSC are supported by IT systems.

4.5.1. IT support for cocoa farmers business processFarmers were asked to indicate the IT systems and hardware tech-

nologies used to support their current business processes in the cocoasupply chain. The results shown in Table 3 asserts the inadequate ITsupport and the use of poor hardware technologies detailed by Otchereet al. (2013); Antwi Opoku et al. (2015) and Ato Kumi (2016).

Table 3 shows the activities of the business process of the farmers,the corrsponding IT or any manual Information System (IS) they use tosupport the activities, and which IS hardware they used in relation to

the activities. It turns out that farmers use thier mobile phones (hard-ware) to support some of the activities without any corresponding IT/ISsupport. This generally implies that they used their mobiles phones tomake telephone calls in support of the activity. The results revealed thatfarmers call to seek support from farm labourers during land prepara-tion and farm maintenance. The farmers also indicated that they callinput dealers to seek advice on the types of fertilizer and pesticide touse during the farm maintenance. A significant number of empty cellsin the table (shown as -) in Table 3 indicates that cocoa farmers performtheir business processes with virtually no IT support. The only IS sup-port available to cocoa farmers turns out to be the pass farmers pass-book.

4.5.2. IT support for LBCs business processesTable 4 shows that the LBCs deployed different IT/IS systems and

hardware technologies such as field information system, port informa-tion system, desktop and laptop computers to support their businessprocesses. The results however show that many of the activities areperformed without any IT support. This observation also affirms thefindings of Otchere et al. (2013); Antwi Opoku et al. (2015) and AtoKumi (2016). Otchere et al. (2013) stated that the lack of IT support inthe GCSC has reduced the sector’s competitiveness and its inadequacyto generate expected level of revenues.

4.5.3. IT support for COCOBOD business processesThe COCOBOD CMC uses an ERP system that consists of warehouse

and port management, marketing, procurement and accounting sys-tems. CMC officials also deploy hardware technologies such as laptopand desktop computers to support their business processes. Paper-basedforms are also used widely by CMC officials (see Table 5), as in the caseof farmers and LBCs.

5. Conclusion

Numerous studies have been conducted in the Ghana cocoa industryby many researchers and international organizations. The focus of thesestudies ranges from the aspects of pest and disease control, cocoa cer-tification, technical efficiency, sustainability, and marketing structures.To the best of our knowledge, none of these studies has dealt with thedetails the business processes and IT systems of the GCSC. The presentresearch is, therefore, novel to studying business process managementand information systems in the cocoa industry of Ghana.

The key actors in the GCSC are not only the cocoa farmers, LBCs andCOCOBOD as widely reported in literature, but also the business unitswithin these organisations, such as PCs, DMs, PMs and OMs withinLBCs. The understading of the roles of these actors is crucial for un-derstanding the business processes within the GCSC. Our findings

Table 3IT systems used to support the business process of cocoa farmers.

Activities of cocoa farmers IT/IS Hardware

Site selection – –Land preparation – Mobile phoneLining and pegging – –Shade establishment – –Go for cocoa seedlings from COCOBOD SPU – –Receive cocoa seedlings from COCOBOD

SPU– –

Farm maintenance – Mobile phoneHarvest cocoa pods – –Pod breaking operations – –Ferment fresh cocoa beans – –Sun drying of cocoa beans – –Bagged dried cocoa beans – –Send bagged beans to PC – –Receive cash payment from PC farmers’ passbook –

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indicate that there is a lot of handovers and waiting times in thebusiness processes of the actors. The processes among the actors are notcoordinated and properly aligned. Though some IT systems are de-ployed, paper-forms are more prevalent leading to inadequacies and

inefficiencies, poor data management and unfair distribution of in-formation among the actors. Our results indicate that despite theavailbility of IT systems, the actual use of the systems in supporting thebusiness processes is very low among all actors. Particularly the ITsystems owned by LBCs are underutilized. This can be attributed to thelack of expertise or the proper configuration of the software applica-tions.

In order to deploy the right sofwtare applications and use themappraopraitely to manage the business processes in supply chains, it isessential to model the business processes in first place (Verdouw et al.,2010). The business process models we provided will enhance commonunderstanding between business process analysts, business owners andsoftware engineers involved in the GCSC. These can help bring smoothtranslations from the current paper-based towards an IT-based man-agement of the business processes of the GCSC. The models will help theproper exploitation of the IT systems already deployed at the LBCs andCOCOBOD, and the development os an appropriate IT systems forsupporting the farmers business process.

This paper could not focus on identifying and modelling the busi-ness process of international actors including buyers and also to cover awider geographical space. These would have contributed vastly to theundertsanding of the interactions among domestic and internationalactors.

Future research should explore in detail the obstacles associatedwith each of the business processes of the actors. The outcome of such aresearch can constitute both the redesign the business processes and theimplementation or configuration of IT systems so that the businessprocesses and the IT are well-aligned.

6. Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financialinterests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-ence the work reported in this paper.

Table 5IT systems used to support the business processes of COCOBOD.

Activities of CMC (COCOBOC) IT/IS Support Hardware

Activities of WPOProgram bagged cocoa beans for offloading ERP/WaPM/

ExcelLaptop/Desktop

Prepare cocoa taken over receipts (CTORs) ERP/WaPM/Excel

Laptop/Desktop

Check cocoa beans quality NoneSubmit CTORs to CMC statistical department ERP/WaPM Laptop/DesktopSend CTORs to LBCs PMs Paper forms –Warehouse packed dried cocoa beans – –Shipping deActivities of shipping departmentStore cocoa beans to meet criteria – –Inform local customer ERP/WaPM Mobile phoneLoad cocoa beans on trucks – –Deliver cocoa to local customers – –Prepare cocoa for export – –Inform international customers ERP/MS Laptop/DesktopSeek advice from Bank of Ghana an Ghana

Customs– Mobile phone

Call Ghana Port and Harbour to check vesselavailability

– Mobile phone

Load cocoa loaded containers into vessels – –Give shipping documents to shipping

companyPaper forms –

Abbreviations:ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning softwareWaPM: Warehouse and Port Management softwareMS: Marketing System

Table 4IT systems used to support the business processes of the LBCs.

Activities of the LBCs IT/IS Hardware

Activities of PCsRequest funds from DM – Mobile phoneReceive funds from DM – –Check cocoa beans quality – –Weigh cocoa beans – –Pay for received cocoa beans – –Record transaction in PC ledger Paper based/ PC accounts ledger TabletCall for evacuation of cocoa beans – Mobile phoneActivities of DMsWarehouse cocoa beans received from PC – –Apply for grading and sealing Paper forms –Receive approval from COCOBOD QCD Paper forms –Call for cocoa beans evacuation to the port – Mobile phonePrepare returns Excel Laptop/Desktop computerSend returns to operations manager Field Information System (FIS) Laptop/Desktop computerActivities of PMsReceive call from DM – Mobile phonePrepare port waybill Paper forms –Send waybills to COCOBOD CMC – –Receive CTOR and weighing certificate Paper forms –Send CTOR to manager Paper forms/ Port Information System (PIS) Laptop/Desktop computerActivities of OMsReceive returns from district and PM Paper forms/FIS/PIS Laptop/Desktop computerPrepare returns Paper forms/ excel/ accounts system Laptop/Desktop computerSend returns and CTORs to COCOBOD CMC accounts Paper forms –Receive payment from COCOBOD CMC accounts – –

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Appendix

Appendix B. Supplementary data

Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2020.100323.

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Appendix AQuestionnaire.

Q. ID Question Response/ Possible answers

Q1. Stakeholder/ Cocoa supply chain actorQ2. What is the name of your organization?Q3. What is your name?Q4. What is your role in the organization?Q5. What are your current supply chain activities (financial, material, information) based on your mentioned role?Q6. Do you use any tool (ICT gadgets) such as desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones and paper-based systems to perform

any of the above stated activities?For mobile phones indicate the brand and the type of internet (Wi-Fi/ Mobile data)?

1=Yes 2=No

Q7. If No, why?Q8. If Yes indicate the name of the specific activity, the tool, with whom do you use this tool, the information you ask and what

you receive?Q9. Have you witness any change in activities from the past 5 years compared to your current activities mentioned in Q5? 1=Yes 2=NoQ10. If Yes indicate these new added activities?Q11. What tool(s) (ICT gadgets) such as desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones and paper-based systems were you using in

the past 5 years to perform your old activities?Q12. Indicate for each tool the activity and the cocoa supply chain partner you interact with using the mentioned tool?Q13. How many departments does your organization have?Q14. Which department (s) manages your supply chain? 1. Logistics 2. Marketing 3. IT department

4. OtherQ15. Does your organization have a business website? 1. Yes 2. NoQ16. Who built this website? 1. In-house, 2. Outsourced, 3. OtherQ17. Who maintains this website?Q18. What is the uses or functions of this website? Indicate for each function the beneficiaries (function of the website to whom),

the kind of information provided by the website and source of the information (information on the website was obtainedfrom who).

Q19. What Information Systems (IS)/ software are currently in use by your organization? For each IS/ software indicate the uses,year of installed or built, who built it/them, who maintains it/them and what ‘problem’ obstruct their uses?

Q20. How do the existing IS/software stated in Q19 relate to each other?

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